Spring-motor.



V. W. GREECE.

. SPRING MOTOR.

APPLIOATION'I'ILED 0011s, 1912.

Patented Oct. 7, 1913.

2 8HEBTSSHEET 2.

111/ M57 K X9 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINUTDN. D. c.

VIRGIL W. GREECE, OF MASON CITY, IOWA.

SPRING MOTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct. 7,1913.

Application filed October 18, 1912. Serial No. 726,432.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VIRGIL W. Gunner-I, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Mason City, in the county of Cerro Gordo and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Motors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in spring motors to be used for operating, driving or propelling almost any kind of machinery, and is intended to supersede, on account of its economy, power and general eliiciency, electric motors, steam, gasolene and other hydro-carbon engines, yet can be employed for the same purposes as such motors and engines, and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement and operation of the various parts thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a motor of the above named general character, which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction, strong, durable and efficient in operation, yet compact in form, and so made that its speed, or the power generated thereby, may be easily regulated to any desired extent,

Another object is to so construct and arrange parts of the machine, that access thereto for repairs and adjustments can be readily had, and the springs can be quickly wound up, and with an expenditure of a minimum amount of power and labor.

Various other objects and advantages will be set forth in the following description and explanation.

In the accompanying drawings which serve to illustrate the invention-Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, with parts thereof broken away, of a spring motor embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is an end View; Fig. 3 is a detached face view of one of the spiders of the slatted drum, and Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of a governor used in connection with the motor.

Like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

The main or supporting frame consists of a base 7, having at each of its ends an upright 8, which base and uprights may be of any suitable size, form and material, but by preference said uprights are tapered toward their upper ends as is clearly shown in Fig.

2 of the drawings. Horizontally journaled on the lower portion of the uprights is a power or spring carrying shaft 9, which has on one of its ends a ratchet 10, in engagement with a pawl 11, which is carried by a lever 12, the lower portion 13, of which loosely surrounds the shaft 9, between the disks which form the ratchet 10. Loosely mounted on the shaft 9, inwardly of the uprights 8, and near each of said uprights is a gear 14, each of which has secured to its face a spider, which is designated as a whole by the reference numeral 15, and each of which consists of a series of radial arms 16, which are preferably longitudinally channeled for the sake of lightness and saving in material. Each of the arms of each spider 15, is provided at its outer end with a groove 17 fitted in which are slats or bars 18, which extend from the arms 16, on one of the spiders 15, to the arms of the other spider, and are secured in position thereon by means of bolts 19, and nuts 20, so that said slats may be removed if desired. Journaled on the uprights of the supporting frame and in parallelism with the power shaft 9, and preferably directly above the same, is a driven shaft 21, which has mounted on one of its ends a pulley 22, to which a belt leading to a machine to be driven (not shown) may be applied. Surrounding the shaft 21, is a sleeve or hollow shaft 23, which has mounted thereon near each of its ends a pinion 24, which mesh with the gears 14, and are keyed or otherwise fixedly secured to the sleeve or hollow shaft.

Fixed on the power shaft 9, between the gear 14. and the upright 8, adjacent to the ratchet 10, is a ratchet wheel 25. The movement of said ratchet wheel in one direction is prevented by means of a pawl 26, which is pivotally mounted on the last named upright 8, at a suitable point to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Coiled around the power shaft 9, and secured at one of their ends to said shaft are a series of springs 27, the other ends of which are secured to the slats 18, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Fixed to the sleeve 23, at its end adjacent to the pulley 22, is a gear 28, which meshes with a pinion 29, loosely mounted on the shaft 9, externally of the gear 14, adjacent to the pulley 22. The pinion 29, is fixed to or may form a part of a gear 30, which is also loosely mounted on the shaft 9, and

which, as before stated, is mounted on the sleeve or hollow shaft. Mounted on the shaft 21, outwardly of the pinion 31, andkeyed to said shaft is a gear 32, which:

meshes with a pinion 33, slidably mounted on a shaft 34, which is journaled on the uprights of the supporting frame in parallelism with the shaft 2l,'and preferably above the same, and has mounted thereon a pulley 35, to which a belt maybe applied for trans mitting power to a machine'to be operated by the motor. Keyed to the shaft 34, near its end opposite the pinion 33, is a gear 36, whichis adapted for engagement with a. pinion 37, of the-governor, which is employed to regulate the speed of the motor. Mounted on the shaft 2'1,below the gear 36, is a gear 38, which is also adapted for engagement with the pinion 37, of the governor. This governor consists of a horizontal support 39, having on one of its faces laterally extended projections 40 and 41,

and at one of its ends a transverse head 42,

which carries a pair of screw bolts 43, which are extended through segmental openings 44, see Figs. 2'and 4, in the upper portion of the upright 8, adjacent to the ratchet mechanism of the motor.

Journaled on'the projections 40 and 41,

is a governor shaft. 45, which has fixed thereon near one of its ends the pinion 37, which, as before stated, is adapted to engage the gears 36 and 38, one at a time. Fixed on the governor shaft '45, near its end opposite the pinion 37, is a collar 46, and slidably mounted on the shaft 45,'near the pinion'37, is another collar 47, which has on its end adjacent to said pinion a friction disk 48, which is adapted to move in unison with the collar 47, and is for the purpose to be presently explained. Connecting the collars 46 and 47, are springs 49 each of which has mounted thereon at about its middle a weight or governor 50, which when the governor shaft is rotated by reason of centrifugal force will have a tendencytospread, thus flexing the springs49, from each other, and causing the collar 47, and frictiondisk 48, to be slid on the governor shaft in the opposite direction. from the pinion 37, in which operation it is evident that the fric tion disk will bebrought into contact with a resilient pad 51, of leather or-other suitable material, which is secured to the de flected inner end 52 ofanadjustingrod 53,

which rod is extended through a suitable opening in the upright 8,"between the segmental openings 44, thereof, and is also extended through an opening-in'theprojection 41, of the support 39, on which'the governor is mounted, thus providing a pivot for said support so that itcan'be turned thereon in the proper direction inorder that the pinion 37 may be caused to mesh with thegears 36 and 38 alternately. This adjusting rod has on its outer portion a handle. 54, by

.meansof which it can be reciprocated so as to bring the pad 51, on 1ts lnner end into or out of contact with the friction'disk 48, when desired. As the cross head 42, of the support 39, as well as said support, is pivotally' mounted on the rod 53, it is obvious that by loosening the'nuts on the bolts 43, said support-and head can be turned on the rod 53, so that the pinion 37,'m'a-y be caused to engage either thegear 36, or 38, as'may be desired.

, From the foregoing and by reference-to the drawings, it willbe readilyunderstood and clearly seen that by reciprocating the adjusting rod "53 in the proper direction, the pad or cushion 51, on itsinner portion will contact with the friction disk 48, which is mounted on the governor shaft so as'to slide thereon yet to rotate therewith. The frictional contact of'the pad 51, onthe adjust- 7 21 respectively, it is obvious that either of said-shafts will be prevented turning aslong as the friction disk islocked. As these pulley shafts are gearedto the slatted-drum, it is manifest that said drum will be held against rotation as long 'asthe friction disk is locked, and when thus held the spring or power shaft' 9, maybe rOtated t-hrough the instrumentality of the ratchet 10, pawl 11, and lever 12, so "that the springs on the spring orpowershaftmay be wound up to the desired tension, when it is manifest that by moving the adjusting rod 53, in the proper direction it willbe advanced so as to release or diminish the pressure of the pad or cushion 51 on said rod against the friction disk, thereby permittingthe springs to exert themselves and cause the rotation of the slatted drum, and through thetrain of gears connectingit to thepulley shafts,

toaOtate said shafts from which power'may of speed, it should be connected to the pulley shaft 21, and ifli'ght work'or high speed is 'required,the machine to 'be driven or operated should be connected to the pulley shaft 34, which maybe done by means-of a- -'helt passingover the pulley'35 orthe'pnlley 22, when low speedis required. It is obvious that instead of using pulleys, the

pulley shafts may begea-red tothe machine to be driven in'any suitable manner. It is also 'manifest th-at by employing the gears 14, at each end of the slatted drum thepower imparted to the pulley shafts will be I equalized on account of said gears meshing with pinions 24 on the sleeve or hollow shaft 23, which surrounds one of the pulley shafts, If it is not desired to use the pulley shaft 34,- the pinion 33 thereon may he slid out of engagement with the gear 32, as illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In order to prevent the springs 27, interfering with one another disks 55, surrounding the shaft 9, are placed between said springs, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is In a spring motor, the combination with a supporting frame, of a power shaft journaled thereon, a gear rotatably mounted on said shaft near each of its ends, a spider connected to the inner face of each of said gears, slats extended from the arms of one of said spiders to the arms of the other, a power transmitting shaft journaled on the supporting frame in parallelism with the power shaft, a sleeve or hollow shaft surrounding said power transmitting shaft, an-

other power transmitting shaft ournaled on the supporting frame in parallelism wit-h the first named transmitting shaft, a train of gears uniting the power shaft, power transmitting shafts and hollow shaft, a series of springs coiled around the power shaft side by side and fixed at one of their ends to said shaft and connected at their other ends to said drum, means connected to the power shaft for turning the same to wind up the springs thereon, a gear mounted on each of the power transmitting shafts near one of the ends thereof and adjustable means mounted on the supporting frame and eX- tended between the last named gears and adapted for alternate engagement with said last named gears to stop and regulate the movements of the aforementioned gearing.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub scribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 15th day of October VIRGIL W. CREECH. Witnesses:

CHAs. C. TILLMAN, A. S. PHILLIPS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

